Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading are an invitation to authentic selflessness. What is there to gain by inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to dine with us at a banquet? Although Jesus speaks to the Pharisee, he also speaks to everyone who would read and hear the Gospel. It would be unusual for a lunch or dinner to be held for the sake of inviting the marginalized, but the meaning is both literal and and figurative. It would be equally unusual to go through an entire day without encountering someone who is brought low or incapacitated in some way. Those people, the everyday encounters, are the ones to whom Jesus says give without expecting repayment.

Today, God, I will feel the pressure to pursue my own interests and complete all I hope to complete in a neat package. It won’t be that easy. There will be interruptions, requests, coworkers and family members who will call me away from that aim. The words of Saint Paul from today’s first reading are a strong antidote to any delusions I might have about carving out a path of selfishness: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.” God, help me welcome rather than shun the interruptions of others. Instead, let me find God in those moments, getting my attention. As the psalmist says, “In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.”

God, I am anxious about the day and its tasks. Be my strength. I will forget you during the day and this moment with you will fade. Be present as you are present always in the Blessed Sacrament. How can I repay you, Lord, for quieting my soul?

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. . . . Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’”

In today’s Gospel reading, Luke describes how Jesus notices the people who chose places of honor at the table. I can imagine Jesus silently watching. His notice of this is the divine gaze of God the Father, from whom nothing is hidden. Jesus knows the arrogance and futility of competing for honor. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,” Jesus says, “but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

God, thank you for being present among your people to read our hearts. I want to understand how to live a life that is not in competition with others but in selflessness that allows me to keep my eyes on you. Saint Paul expresses this same self-emptying in his letter to the Philippians from today’s reading: “And this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.” Lord, help me put honor in its rightful place—namely, with you—by doing your will and giving glory to your name.

Jesus, just as you observed carefully the people seeking places of honor at the table, let me see with your eyes the choices that lie before me. At the Annunciation, Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Stay with me today, God, so that I can rest in you and through your grace find solace in humility.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus chooses the Twelve Apostles. The reading from Luke names each of them. From the Greek word apóstolos, apostle means “one who is sent forth.” Able to trace this apostolic lineage all the way back to the Twelve, Jesus also calls us to be apostles sent forth on a special mission. Just as Jesus went up to the mountain to pray before choosing the Twelve, he continues to intercede for us to his Father that we may be the ones who are sent forth to accomplish the mission he gives us.

God, help me understand my apostolic mission, just as you entrusted Saints Simon and Jude with a mission. It seems overwhelming to think that Jesus calls me by name to be an Apostle, and that I stand in the company of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the other apostles. Help me understand that it is Jesus himself who calls me and sends me and that, as Saint Paul says, Jesus as the capstone in which “the whole structure is held together.” In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Lord, I have neither the knowledge or strength to understand the mission you have given me. Deepen my dependence on you so that I am open to your Word. Through your grace, let my words and actions be a selfless witness for the glory of your name. Free me from all distress today that would turn my eyes away from you; let my trust in you be firm in the knowledge that I am one of, as Paul says, the “fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the glorious company of Apostles praise you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Someone asked Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

Imagine the person who timidly asks Jesus this question. In the question itself is a longing to know the answer and trembling expectation. Not everyone will enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus himself says in today’s reading, “And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.” What is the difference between those who will not be saved and those who will? One word: strive. The English translation from the Greek term means to struggle. How do I struggle? Elsewhere in the Bible, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Does God see me daily striving to enter?

God, help direct my gaze toward the narrow gate. Even if I keep it in sight, it doesn’t mean I will strive to enter. Give me the grace to fight the good fight and enter the narrow gate. Lord, will I be the one knocking at the locked door, saying, “Lord, open the door for us”? Twice you say to those at the door: “I do not know where you are from.” By my words and actions today, Lord, let it be that you recognize where I am from—that is, always falling short—and that I need you to lift me up.

God, thank you for the words of your Son. At first the words “strive to enter” seem harsh to me, and taste of rejection. But coming straight from the mouth of Jesus and intrinsic to the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, they call me to go on, to move forward in love of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the teachings of the Bride of Christ, the Church. Lord, open the door for us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings